Tails of Tangleby Garden 3   
Sue Heazlewood   Jane Smith        

 

Tails of Tangleby Garden 3                                 
Sue Heazlewood   Ill. Jane Smith

Aukram Publishing, Ohoka (2024)
Illustrated story, Recipe book
Hardback, 170 pages
ISBN 978 0 47372 315 6

 

Spot the food in this story:

‘Marmalade had made her delicious paprika chicken and a scrumptious apple crumble for dessert.’ Before the story goes much further, the young readers encounter a picture of Marmalade the rabbit preparing the chicken dish and Violet the mouse pouring custard over a generous helping of crumble. Recipes are included. Suddenly a mealtime crisis erupts when naughty Basil the bunny has a tantrum and runs out into the snow. A search party of animals has to be formed to rescue him. Saved from drowning in an icy pool, Basil is reinvigorated by a mugful of Chinese chicken and corn soup (with recipe). And that’s only Chapter One.

 

This charming combination of storytelling and cooking has now reached its third instalment. Tails of Tangleby Gardens 3 once again mixes an illustrated animal fantasy with a recipe book. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure involving talking rabbits, frogs, dogs, cats mice and hedgehogs, with a food bonus. The playhouse (cubbyhouse to Australian readers) at Tangleby Gardens has developed from being a home for a pair of refugee rabits, Marmalade and Montgomery, and has become a bustling multi-species sanctuary for a wide range of homeless creatures. And they all enjoy good food.

The animals face the challenge of winter with aplomb, using Leo the poodle’s balloon to fly in nourishing meals to some hungry local mice. With warmer weather, the whole Tangleby family of animals goes on a camping holiday to Foxton Beach, where the little blue penguins, Mr and Mrs Winterbottom, have made a new home. This jaunt enables the animals to enjoy a road trip in their camper-van as well as some amusing adventures and misadventures at the beach. Peking Duck’s big feet do cause mishaps such as falling into the chocolate cake, but they also prove useful in rescuing Basil and Belle from the perils of surf and wind.

The attractive colour illustrations on almost every page are by Jane Smith, who has created a full array of well-dressed animals. Her husband Neil Smith’s tasty food photographs have also been populated by animals, so Violet mouse is shown decorating her Jelly Slice with pansies.

 

A great deal of thought has gone into the organisation of this book. There is a double-page pictorial identification guide to the cast of characters, to remind readers that Louie is a cat, Hemi is a frog and Basil and Belle are rabbits. The recipes have two indexes. One offers the usual alphatical order, while the second has them listed in page and chapter order. The recipes themselves are well set out with clear instructions and ability levels that range from one strawberry (‘Very easy’) to three strawberries (‘Some skill required’). Each recipe has its own QR code, so that there is no need to take this handsome book into the food preparation area.

There is a two-page reference guide to liquid and weight measures, oven temperatures for cooking different meats and a list of alternative names for various ingredients.

Tails of Tangleby Gardens 3 is an ideal gift for fond grandparents to hand out. 

 

Trevor Agnew 
2 Dec 2024    [Review 3732]